Flushing, as a neighborhood, has a decidedly unappealing name. But Citi Field isn't actually located in Flushing. Surrounded by a bay, two freeways and a park, the Mets share their parcel of land with the little-known, less-loved neighborhood of Willets Point. With a permanent population of one, Willets Point is the only part of New York City without a sewer system. When it rains hard, or the septic tanks fail, the unpaved dirt roads run with effluvia of one kind or another. The businesses are invariably junkyards or chop shops, and they come with the customary guard dogs. And sometimes, those guard dogs like to take a walk.

One lady got spooked while leaving a Mets game:

"They came at me like a locomotive," Elaine Feerick said, describing her encounter this month with a 70-pound pit bull and a shepherd mix "that looked like a wolf."

"My friend, who's terrified of dogs, ran for her life faster than I've ever seen her run before," Feerick said. "I stood there and the pit bull rammed into me like a battering ram — amazingly, I did not go down."

This appears to be the only incident. The Mets are aware of the dogs, and security guards say they mind their own business. But to the New York Post, "packs" of dogs are "roaming" the area, "menacing" fans. We can only presume that this and this alone accounts for the 11,000 empty seats at every Mets game.